Roma e Positano

I arrived in Rome on the Friday 22nd of June. I met up with Adam who was also tired so we took it easy and had a nice dinner. The next day we were up early for some site seeing, we saw the pantheon, piazza di spagna coliseum, Trevi fountain and a few other monuments. That night we met up with Pia, Jenny and Laura and went on the Spanish steps pub crawl which was heaps of fun. The next day Adam left to go back to His uni for his exchange as he had classes on the next day(Monday) and we were blessed with the newly presence of Timm and Lucas, this is the beginning of the group trip. We did some more sight seeing and ate more food trying very hard to avoid tourist spots. We had a lovely piazza right next to our apartment and in the mornings Pia and I would go and get a cafe and paste for breakfast and maybe buy some fruit.

On the Tuesday we left Rome and headed for Positano which is a beautiful small tourist town built around cliffs on the waters edge. The Town has been built vertically and our hotel was towards the top so everyday was an epic climb. For that afternoon we just walked around town, had dinner and relaxed by the pool and prepared for a big day tomorrow. We woke up early and presented ourselves for the boat tour of the island of Capri. Because of our large group of 6 people they provided us with the private boat at normal rates which was a great start to the day. So our skipper Gigi took us over to Capri were we jumped out of the boat and got to swim in the grottos. After a bit of swimming and going around the island we reached Marina Grande and were dropped off for 4 hours to explore the island. We started off with a great pasta lunch an then took the bus to the famous Blue Grotto. After paying the operators of the small canoe he took us inside the grotto which is basically a tiny entrance to a large cave 60m by 20m and the water was glowing bright blue and clear as crystal. We had so much fun as we jumped in and swam around in the very salty water and took a bunch of photos. After the four hours Gigi collected us and showed us more of the island and took us to a swimming spot. We arrives back just before 6 were we had some dinner and drinks on the beach to end one of the best days all of us has had in Europe so far.

This morning we travelled back to Napoli were everyone is splitting up and I am staying in Napoli for the night with Pia and our net spot and our meeting point being Amsterdam!

Montefiore dell'aso e monte vidone combatte

Urbino was so much fun, the whole town has basically been transformed into a university with students living all around it much like the different departments of the uni. Nayma and I went out for Aperitivo at one of the small bars, then we had a second Aperitivo and finished the night with some late night pizza. It is such a fun lifestyle in Urbino, with the piazza being the central point we caught up with people throughout the night and stayed out till late. I also really enjoyed watching people get thrown into the fountain in the piazza.

So on Thursday morning I travelled to the small town of Montefiore dell'aso where I met for the first time my nonnas cousin Don Victorrio who is the priest of the town. Don Victorio lives with his sisters family and no one speaks English. My Italian really improved and found I was ok with the speed of the conversations but struggled sometimes with a limited vocabulary. So that day we went to visit the my nonnas town called Monte Vidone Combatte which is extremely tiny and sits on a hill with great views in every direction. After looking at where my nonnas house once stood we visited my bisnonno e bisnonna graves. It was a great day filled with adventure but very tiresome not being able to speak English. I said my goodbyes this morning and travelled back to Rome where I am meeting Adam for two nights of Rome before I catch up with everyone else.

Porto Ricanati e Urbino

On Monday I took the train from Rome to Ancona where I met my friend Nayma. I met her at the train station and then she took me to her house in Porto Recanati. She showed me around the bordering towns, Sirolo and Numana. Theses towns are major tourist attractions in the summer because of the picturesque views and the great beaches. I have been eating amazing Italian food and 4 cafes a day! Nayma has an amazing and friendly family who have welcomed me into their home, fed me and helped me with my future traveling transportation which I am very grateful for. Yesterday Nayma and I met another friend Chiara and they took me to Fermo which is referred to as a 'borgo' which Italians interpret as a medieval village. Today we have travelled to Urbino which is a university town where Nayma has a small apartment. I am loving all the wonderful food, strong coffee and that fact I get to practice my Italian all day. Tomorrow I stay for one night with my nonnas cousin who speaks no english, I am nervous but very excited.

Urbino below

Arriving in Rome

I arrived in Rome last night. Everything was running smoothly apart from when I missed my train stop and ended up all alone late at night at the wrong station. My limited Italian actually came in handy as some high school kids turned up and were able to give me directions. So as I travelled I got a chance to practice speaking but it was difficult as I was super tired from the flight. I eventually arrived at the PopIn hostel where to my surprise it wasn't 1:30 in the morning but actually 10:30pm haha oh and also that my reservation never came through so I had to fork out quite a bit to get the only remaining room which is a double bed in my own room. By this stage all I wanted to do was sleep so finding another hostel was not an option. Today is going to be great I am having an early breakfast then booking my train ticket to Ancona as the hotel is next to the central train station. Then I will grab my bag and be on my way

Bag packed and ready to go!

Less than two weeks to go before I fly to Roma!